Jump to: navigation, searchFor other uses, see Australia (disambiguation). Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent and a number of islands in the Southern, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the French dependency of New Caledonia to the northeast, and New Zealand to the southeast.
The mainland of Australia has been inhabited for more than 42,000 years by Indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the north and by European explorers and merchants starting in the seventeenth century, the eastern half of the mainland was claimed by the British in 1770 and officially settled through penal transportation as the colony of New South Wales on 26 January 1788. As the population grew and new areas were explored, another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were successively established over the course of the 19th century.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a Federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth Realm. The capital city is Canberra, located in the Australian Capital Territory. The current national population is around 20.6 million people, and is concentrated mainly in the large coastal cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
Commonwealth of Australia
Flag
Coat of arms
Anthem: Advance Australia Fair Royal anthem: God Save the Queen
Capital
Canberra 35°15′S 149°28′E
Largest city
Sydney
Official languages
English (de facto 1)
Government
Constitutional monarchy (federal)
- Queen
Elizabeth II
- Governor-General
Michael Jeffery
- Prime Minister
John Howard
Independence
from the UK
- Constitution
1 January 1901
- Statute of Westminster
11 December 1931
- Australia Act
3 March 1986
Area
- Total
7,741,220 km² (6th) 2,988,888 sq mi
- Water (%)
1
Population
- 2006 estimate
20,555,3002 (53rd)
- 2001 census
18,972,350
- Density
2.6/km² (224th) 6.7/sq mi
GDP (PPP)
2006 estimate
- Total
$674.9 billion (17th)
- Per capita
$32,220 (World Bank) (14th)
HDI (2004)
0.957 (high) (3rd)
Currency
Australian dollar (AUD)
Time zone
various3 (UTC+8 to +10.5)
- Summer (DST)
various3 (UTC+8 to +11.5)
Internet TLD
.au
Calling code
+61
1 English does not have de jure official status (source) 2 mid-2006 population projection using Series B (medium variant) from ABS 3 There are minor variations from these three time zones, see Time in Australia.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, searchFor other uses, see Australia (disambiguation).Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent and a number of islands in the Southern, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the French dependency of New Caledonia to the northeast, and New Zealand to the southeast.
The mainland of Australia has been inhabited for more than 42,000 years by Indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the north and by European explorers and merchants starting in the seventeenth century, the eastern half of the mainland was claimed by the British in 1770 and officially settled through penal transportation as the colony of New South Wales on 26 January 1788. As the population grew and new areas were explored, another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were successively established over the course of the 19th century.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a Federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth Realm. The capital city is Canberra, located in the Australian Capital Territory. The current national population is around 20.6 million people, and is concentrated mainly in the large coastal cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
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